The MQM supreme leader is not likely to return to Pakistan. But Altaf Hussain is the only Pakistani political leader to have acquired British citizenship. Many Pakistani political leaders have spent time in self-imposed exile in London. Although the party was back in the corridors of power after the 1999 coup, London remained the MQM’s operational nerve centre. Since then Altaf Hussain has run the party from London. The 1992 military operation divided the party and forced Altaf Hussain and hundreds of other party members to flee the country and seek asylum in Britain and the US.Īnother operation three years later virtually eliminated the party’s hardcore elements. Formed in 1985, the MQM has seen tougher times. If allegations of money laundering are proven in a court of law, they could have serious repercussions for the MQM leader. The telephonic address of the MQM chief to his supporters in Pakistan last month illustrates the gravity of the situation. More worrying for them, however, is the recovery of hundreds and thousands of pounds in cash from various properties owned by the party. The recent raids on the party’s London office in connection with the investigation into the Imran Farooq murder case is certainly cause for serious concern among the party leadership. Surely the latest development has come at a time when the MQM stands at its most vulnerable point. For the MQM it is also amounts to buying security. Now once more British intervention seems to have worked for the PML-N government. But the party’s significant electoral support was important to ensure Mr Zardari’s smooth sailing.Ī close confidant of Mr Zardari who lived in London reportedly approached the British Foreign Office to persuade the MQM to switch sides, and was successful in his endeavours. Understandably, the party was reluctant to ditch its benefactor even when his downfall seemed imminent. The alliance helped the party revive its political stronghold in Karachi that had been affected after the crackdowns launched by previous governments. Since the 1999 military coup, the MQM had stood firmly by Musharraf’s military regime. They also apparently played an important role in getting the MQM to endorse the PPP’s move to force Gen Musharraf to step down. Senior British diplomats played a pivotal role in the reconciliation between the PPP and Musharraf’s military-led regime. Britain’s deep interest in Pakistani politics is not a secret. In most cases, according to party sources, the backtracking came at the intervention of British officials both in Pakistan and London. Many MQM leaders concede in private that these flip-flops have dented the party’s image among its own supporters. It was certainly not the first time that the MQM has heeded such ‘friendly advice’ from the British administration, I was told.ĭuring the five years of the PPP government the MQM left the coalition more than half a dozen times only to be back in the fold a few days later. The latest bonhomie with the ruling PML-N is testimony to the entangled circumstances the party finds itself in.Īn MQM leader, whom I met the night before the party’s decision to support Mamnoon Hussain for president, told me that the British advised the party to support the government and that the party could obviously not say no. Many, if not all, of its political decisions over the last few years - seem to have been largely dictated by the quandary that the MQM faces in operating from a foreign base. With its top leadership living in permanent exile the party is not an independent actor. The MQM’s latest cartwheel does not merely reflect a case of political opportunism it is also indicative of the party’s predicament of being hostage to its own circumstances. But it may not be so simple, more so in the case of the latest marriage of convenience between the two erstwhile antagonists. Seemingly, a visit to the MQM headquarters Nine Zero is enough for any new government in Islamabad to clinch the party’s allegiance. We have seen this happen many times before. THE MQM has pledged its support to the PML-N in the presidential elections and the party may also join the federal government soon.